There were so many reasons we chose to get married at the gorgeous location we did, but one of those many reasons (aside from the lake access, gorgeous facilities for the entire weekend, etc. etc…) was for the lavender fields.
Seriously, who can resist a spectacular blooming lavender field!? With that said, of course we tried to plan the wedding at the right time between the blooming and harvesting of the lavender. And, although it was early on, we ended up hitting it at a pretty perfect time.
Because of all the lavender, I knew I wanted to incorporate it into the wedding somehow, and what better way than lavender candle favors!? Then when the guests leave and burn the candle later, it can bring them back to that wonderful day in the lavender fields. (ha! too much? sentimental overkill? oh well… that's just how things roll around here…).
Google "DIY Essential Oil Soy Candle" and you'll find about a million tutorials on how to make them. :) Some of them make it sound really hard. Some easy. We actually found it surprisingly simple, it just required time and a little bit of trial and error. Calculate how much wax/supplies you need –> buy supplies –> attach wick to container –> melt wax –> mix in essential oil –> pour in container –> stabilize wick –> let cool –> add label –> done!
The more people you have, the better. With five of us, this whole process took about four hours to make 120 candles. Pretty good, I thought, for first-timers!
Depending on the essential oil you're using, you may not need as much as you'd expect. We used about 1 tbsp (~1/2 oz.) per ~lb of wax and it worked great (these measurements do not need to be exact by any means) — I ended up having a TON of lavender oil leftover; luckily it's one I'll actually use and I gave some away.
There are many ways to stabilize the wick after pouring in the wax. After trying a few things, we found it easiest to use a strip of scotch tape with a hole in the middle for the wick (this was also best for us because we were making so many and we could do them all at once).
Lastly, for the kiddos, we almost didn't do anything but we had so many of them on the guest list (it's that time of our lives… everyone we know is having them lol) I wanted something for them. I figured an activity is always good… since weddings can get boring for the littles, so I found THIS printable coloring book on Etsy, and set them out with crayons.